Interview with Martha Ojeda

Kansas City, MO – Some people think illegal immigration is inevitable, as long as living and working conditions in Mexico and other developing countries remain far behind the United States. Martha Ojeda grew up in Nuevo Laredo. As a teenager she worked in the maquiladoras, Mexican factories that import parts, assemble them and export final products duty-free. Ojeda began organizing her co-workers, and they eventually pooled their money to help her attend law school. She now lives in San Antonio, Texas, and is director of the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras . The Cross-Border Network invited Ojeda to town she'll be speaking in Lawrence on Thursday and Kansas City this Friday. Ojeda told Sylvia Maria Gross about the conditions she worked in as a teenager.